Did I mention a faux bloody horn and pink eyes on this purple people eater? I found this adorable monster hanging on my clothes outside on the drying line. Even though that horn looks like it speared something to death it was harmless to me - i pull this little bug up off my shirt to examine it...Strong legs. But no other threatening action. It's main line of defense is to hide, to move slowly and not be seen. It did not even use it's wings to fly away.
It has lots of sheen, spot, dots, and texture to it's outer body. Colors also seemed to shift slightly in the bright light.
The texture is tons of tiny indentations. The eyes though are smooth and protruding bigger then someone with undiagnosed hyper-thyroidism.
**Can anyone identify what sort of bug this is? **It has a grasshopper feel to it, but didn't hop or fly. It's got dragonfly colored wings. It's got a locust face. And a horn like a rhino beetle.
Who are you!?!
Xoxoxox
Platycotis vittata, the Oak Treehopper.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.insectsofwestvirginia.net/h/platycotis-vittata.html
How awesome it would be to find one with the alternate markings, all Battlestar Galactica-ed out.
WOW! I thought this one would be super hard!
ReplyDeleteGood job gratuitous :)))
I love how much they change during maturity. I did find that one under an oak tree, maybe i can look around for some others - it said the color change happened over a nine day period. It's an amazing transformation.
it is Super battle star, star trek, star wars, outer space fighter pilot.
I also like how when the male mates with the female, he mates for 24 hours to make sure other dudes dont get a chance. ha ha
24 hours? I could so do that. If it included breaks.
ReplyDeleteNow I feel terrible. I JUST found one of these in my house. I stepped on something sharp, picked up the object to throw whatever it was away and found it was this creature. Even after stepping on it, it was in perfect shape. Because I have a tiny one year old daughter and saw this thing had a horn and wings, I freaked out and flushed it down the toilet. Had I known it was harmless, I would've released it back outside. Now I know in case I ever see another one.
ReplyDeletewow, idiot.
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